Black Forest Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska is one of my favorite retro desserts. It’s a delicious combination of cake and ice cream that is covered in marshmallowy toasted meringue that first came into vogue in the 1970s, but never went out of style in my kitchen. My Black Forest Baked Alaska is made with a dark chocolate brownie base that is topped with layers of cherry sorbet and chocolate ice cream, then covered in a cloud of meringue. You can toast your meringue under the broiler, but it is a lot more fun (and a lot faster!) to toast it using a handheld kitchen torch, which gives it a golden color and a subtle roasted marshmallow flavor.

I baked the brownie bases in Mini Springform Pans from the Cake Boss bakeware line. The little pans are nonstick and give you the perfect size for those times when you want a dessert that is scaled down in size. For instance, this recipe makes four desserts that will serve two people each. You can serve them all at once or store the unfinished bases in your freezer, the pull them out and add the meringue before serving for a much quicker dessert. They’re fun for entertaining, but easy enough to make that they shouldn’t be saved only for special occasions.